ON MY DAILY WALKS, I can see firsthand that many are feeling the weight of the current real estate slog here in the USA.  You might be one of those folks reading the gloomy headlines day-after-day, online, or in the newspaper.  It’s so easy to allow ourselves to take on the spirit of dread that such headlines perpetuate.  However, I firmly believe I am not subject to all this world’s rules and proclamations.  I am a Kingdom woman, with a Kingdom family, living in the world, but not being of the world.  My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he lacks nothing of value and He knows how to take good care of me, and those I love, even through the ups and downs of economic chaos, if and when it comes.  Jesus said this:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Colossians 1 is a reminder to, “set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Believe me, I’ve got bills to pay too, and plenty to be anxious about if I choose to be, but I truly endeavor to lift my gaze higher than this ole’ temporal world with it’s stick houses, passing fads and oft-disappointing investments.  Let’s invest in eternal things.  Let’s buy Kingdom shares with our time, our money, our focus, our prayers, our fasting, our believing, our serving…for we cannot lose if this is our lifestyle.

WE ARE DOOMED TO SUCCEED!

My daughter Melissa emailed these thoughts to me recently, and they seem so appropriate at the moment: 

“I’m FULLY CONVINCED that the God-market is never going to crash…we’re never going to see a recession…my investment will only grow bigger and bigger in God’s economy!!! “ 

AMEN.

Here is my extremely patient-save-the-day-tech-website designer-computer/blog/ad infinitum-help-guy Colby, (not to mention friend, brother-in-Christ and comrade in the faith) and his friend, the lovely ballerina (seriously, she gets paid to dance.) from Seattle, Kara.  Colby just graduated in Seattle on Good Friday (I’m sure it was a great Friday for you, Colby!) with an Associate of Applied Arts in Graphic Design.  Colby has even more dreams and plans to develop his gifts/interests in his area of expertise, but for now, what a milestone.  We’re proud of you! 

Remember how my hubby urged me to get outside and snap some shots of the gorgeous Spring blossoms in our neighborhood?  (March 9th post to see the full beauty)…well, just 1 week later, the wind picked up and if you didn’t know better, to look outside, you’d think it was a sudden Spring snow fall!  I snapped a few shots, trying to capture the scene; you can see the spots of white floating about as the wind is whipping the blossoms about. Below, the branches can no longer boast of their glory, as most of the petals have fallen…

“All men are like grass, all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.” I Peter 1:24

Okay, on Easter Sunday, I promised to share a fun story with you about ‘defying the natural prognosis’ of life’s circumstances.  I’m sort of a squeeky-wheel-never-say-die-call-and-talk-to-the-manager gal - as in ‘rules were made to be broken’; not as in ’sinning to get my way’, compromising the Truth to gain or taking old stuff back to trick the establishment.  No, no, no.  But I am a firm believer in genuinely appealing when you feel that, in actual fact, while holding tightly to your integrity, you have a case.  Perhaps that’s why I’ve raised 5 ‘lawyers’.  (But then, as I see it, most all kids are lawyers….or at least, anarchists!)

Back to my story.  We relocated in late summer of 07.  Along with a few minor cosmetic changes to the older home we had purchased, we bought a few new items,  and one in particular promised in big fat letters, a $200.00 rebate upon professional installation.  Well, we scrambled to hire the installer within the time frame allotted, kept the receipts, documents, etc. and prepared to fill out all the paperwork and claim our ‘prize’!

OOOps.  Fine print. 

  Yuck.  I remember now how much I hate fine print.  It can really dull the luster of the promise.  Point 2 in particular.  “You must cut out and include the original label from the carton, which includes the UPC code, model number and serial number; or YOUR CLAIM CANNOT BE PROCESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   YOUR CLAIM CANNOT BE PROCESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………..YOUR CLAIM CANNOT BE PROCESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We threw away the box the night of our purchase.  Complete with the UPC code.  Drats. Daddy doesn’t make it a habit to keep clutter around. He’s pretty obsessed about unhelpful stuff being disposed of as quickly as is humanly possible.  (pray for me, I am the creative type and we like our stuff!)

I cry foul!  Not only did we hire a professional installer, we tipped him $50.00 over his fee of $150.00 since we were planning to get the rebate anyway and why not bless the guy?!?!?!  My mind was racing.  I guess it’s too late to UN-bless the guy, huh?  I wouldn’t really do that, I’m just flipping out for the the moment.

I stewed.  I pondered.  I plotted.  Hmm.  I filed the paperwork and decided not to do anything at the moment…….from time to time I’d pull out the stack again, consider a scheme that was brewing in my head and then, promptly, re-file the paperwork. 

1 day before the deadline to have the entry mailed in.  THE MOMENT OF TRUTH.  OK, what do I have to lose?  I filled out everything  in detail.  I included the installer receipt, the business card of the guy who sold us the item, the receipt and, my Ace - I took a digital photo of the installed item in my house, downloaded and printed it off and wrote a note of appeal to the ‘authorities’.  I begged that they reconsider Point 2 based on the fact that we are people of integrity, who indeed have purchased the item, had it installed(see photo!), tipped the guy generously and actually were strongly encouraged to buy the particular item due to the promised rebate.

THE $200.00 CHECK ARRIVED HERE ON GOOD FRIDAY.  Pretty cool, huh? As in the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never, never, give in.”

I’m in love; completely addicted to the home schooling lifestyle.  This is a ’snapshot’ of a day-in-the-life at the Mira house. Here’s our Seth Daniel, sipping on his all-fruit smoothie, (that I - Mom -  had the privilege of making him) in the middle of the morning.  His feet are snuggled in his donkey slippers, he’s comfy in his long johns, as he reads through his daily math exercise. 

What could be better than having my children so near me, almost every day, in their growing-up years?  It’s been worth the pressure of living on one income, complete with lousy (cheap!) vacations, pinching pennies at the clothing store, the grocery store and the toy store.  It’s been worth all those do-it-at-home hair hi-lite kits (ugh), pedicures and make-it-from-scratch meals.  I’d drive ‘beaters’ all over again, just to be the one with the ‘loudest’ voice in my sons’ lives, next to Daddy. 

I hear, too often to count, that it’s just not possible for folks to live on one income anymore.  Hmm.  I guess it could depend on how one ’slices the economic pie’.  For lots of American families, getting Mom back home is a few (difficult) decisions away.  How thankful I am that we somehow, in God’s great mercy, found the grace to make such decisions, in order to find such wealth…right here in our own backyard.

Apart from His grace and leading, I would never have known such pleasures!

Yep, it’s ugly.  Robert phoned from the service department and filled us in.  Nothing major (as in transmission, engine…) just a long list of necessary ‘mid-life vehicle needs’ to be attended to, which brings one, as you know, to contemplate whether to invest such sums into ol’ Bessy, or to move on to a newer model!  But truly, my heart is filled with joy, and God always has a plan.  I never, by God’s grace, put my trust in such ‘bad news’  because I’ve watched God do so many things that defy the natural prognosis in so many areas of life over the years.

Which reminds me of a fun story I’m planning to share with you soon…HAPPY EASTER!

TODAY BEGAN! Bright with sun; the house filled with energy for what was to come.  A friend from church was about to arrive to take the boys and a buddy snowboarding for the first time ever.  I was fasting and praying in deep intercession, (like most mothers), anticipating all the possible dangers of a 90-minute drive down a buuusy interstate in a car filled with testosterone, to go to a ski hill for the first time, without a lesson, without a doting parent, without proper goggles (forgot!) but with plenty of trees to hit (you’ve heard about those people…) and potential bones to break (but we won’t confess that!).  Now you’re praying, right?!

The day here on the home front hummed with progress as I buzzed about accomplishing all that gets done when the kids are happily occupied, and mom can think without too very many distractions (oh, the bliss of such times!).

THEN…

…at about 2:30 in the afternoon, I pondered the boys’ whereabouts.  On the mountain?  Eating out of the big cooler we packed with sandwiches, fruit and Gatorade?  Gleeful at the sun hitting the snow?  Ready for another run?  All was well, praise God.  I was about to head out the door for a long peaceful walk in the sun, when the phone rang. 

The car (I loaned them) overheated, then stalled 60 miles out on the way home…and there they sat along a treacherous stretch of road, unable to do much else.  Ring ring…”Do I have AAA?”  I don’t know, do I? (how often does one check on such things?)  Let me check.  Ring ring…”Yes, but it’s in my husband’s name and he must be on site or the tow isn’t covered”.  Then ensued a fixer-upper-car-counseling session by phone to attempt to remedy the situation.  An hour-long tow is pricey.  3:30.  Ring, ring, ring…An hour and 8 phone calls later (4 to AAA, 4 to the ‘castaways’) Daddy is packing up, along with enlisting the help of a friend to follow him with an extra car because 2 boarders need to be back earlier than the others for work, and readying himself for the drive up to rescue the boarders in distress.  4:30.  Ring, ring, ring…Another hour and 20 phone calls  to reach the mom of the friend who joined them and to find a car repair shop that won’t scalp us on Easter weekend and to swap facts with Dad who’s driving to get there and to let our dinner guests know the barbecue is now on ‘pause’.  5:00.  30 minutes and a google search for the nearest car dealership, seeing that most repair shops are closed for the Easter weekend.  5:40 the first batch of boarders returns plus other mother all converge here to commiserate on all the above 5 more phone calls to my hubby who’s sitting and waiting  with the boys for the tow guy to arrive.  6:00.  Scrub the potatoes, prepare the meat to grill, answer the phone some more because it’s ringing AGAIN.  I’M TIRED IN EVERY WAY ESPECIALLY TIRED OF HAVING A PHONE ON MY EAR 7:00.  Pray, don’t let the cell phone or the land line ring one more time today or I may run down the street!  No walk today.  Daddy and the boys arrive to unpack the gear and quick-clean the house for the guests.  Guests arrive.  Lovely evening filled with laughter and pleasant conversation.  Fall asleep 3 times journaling the days’ events….

Days don’t always go as planned, do they?  But, all is well.  All are safe.  Dollar signs do occasionally dance in my head as I ponder what the prognosis will be tomorrow.  More to come…

 EBAY ITEM NUMBER:  250226518036.  This is my younger brother, David Ralph, named after his honorable father, Ralph Lawrence Belitz.  Please indulge me a moment while I brag on him!  He has been a metal sculptor in the Omaha, Nebraska area for over 11 years and has produced over 7000 pieces of work.  Wow.  At that rate, in the next 10-20 years he will have made between 14-21000 pieces! That’s a lot of art.

When I look at this photo, and consider the great and powerful transformation God has done in this young man’s life, I truly ’stand in awe’ of the power of God.  

I recall vividly the time when he was ‘separated from Christ…without hope and without God in the world’.  (Ephesians 2:12) ‘But because of His great love for my brother David, God, who is rich in mercy, made him alive with Christ even when he was dead in transgressions - it was by grace David was saved, through faith…now he is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.’ (Eph. 2:4 and 8 my paraphrase :)) 

Even in his darkest days, there was such a brilliance in David; such artistic, creative ability as to boggle your mind.  The dynamic potential of a world-changer lay dormant in him, awaiting the touch of the living God!…as is the case of so many precious children in our day.  Now his heart for evangelism shines through in every single thing he does - he is truly a servant of God, walking in those ‘good works prepared for him’ by Jesus Christ.

Fast forward to today and consider that David’s artwork has been purchased all around the globe. He’s been commissioned by universities, corporations, coffee bars…and people who simply love his work and want a signature art piece.  ‘Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for him!” (Ps. 126:2 my paraphrase)

David lives with his wife and three young children on the rural outskirts of Omaha, where he has a shop in his backyard.

If you’d like to know more about this metal sculpture, hurry on over to his Ebay spot, because the auction closes Easter Sunday, March 23rd.

Here you see 2 of my favorite, most useful dishes locked tight together.  These little guys are so handy to have for serving salsa, a scoop of ice cream, apple sauce, French dip au jus’, grated cheese and diced onion for topping, sauces, sour creme…these are ‘must-haves’, so I was bummed when they seemed to be inseparable.  I engaged the entire family in attempting to separate these Pyrex custard cups!  We hit them, froze them, threw them on the carpeted floor…all to no avail.  I was about to break one of these, when I discovered a solution.

Solution:

I placed them inside the bigger black glass bowl you see here.  I poured boiling water up to the edge of the outside, white bigger Pyrex.  I put ice cubes inside the smaller Pyrex as you can see here.  I took a can of WD-40 and used the little red straw that comes with the can and I sprayed WD-40 somewhat generously between the 2 Pyrex cups.

I let it sit for a few minutes, poured out and refreshed the boiling water, let it sit for a few more minutes and pulled the nested cups out of the water, took my wooden spoon, placing it firmly on the rim of the smaller Pyrex and attempted to pry the smaller Pyrex up and out of the larger Pyrex.  It worked.  Voila’ - no need to break one to save the other!  Another handy tip for your household.

We have a state-of-the-art city park just a stone’s throw from our home.  It’s complete with walking trails, soccer fields, skate park, basketball courts, batting cages and all the other amenities a ‘good park’ could have.  It was a major factor in our decision to purchase in this neighborhood.  You know, “Location, location, location.”

We headed there a couple of days ago so the boys could play while I did my 40-minute walk around the trails.  On my first go-round, I noticed what appeared to be some unsavory characters huddled in a battered vehicle ‘doing business’ at an odd time of day…I immediately changed my route and walked only where I could eyeball the boys along my path.  Then, I came upon a mob of troubled-looking youth who had, it appeared, just trashed a walking trail with lots of broken glass.  A dark cloud was over their heads and I wondered where their parents were.  The girls in their skin-tight jeans and spandex tops couldn’t have been much older than 13.  The boys outnumbered them, and didn’t appear to have a whole lot of ‘grey matter’.  Sad.

I think we need to remind ourselves that we don’t live in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and Andy Griffith probably isn’t the guy we see playing catch with Opie at the ball field.  City parks don’t equal safety and wholesome environments, no matter how fancy their toys or how virtuous their signage.  Let’s be vigilante in this hour, with our children.